On A Dime…

I’m sitting back at home right now. I’m pretty relaxed. The errands and chores for the day are pretty much done.
I’ve had some time to poke around the web, read some blogs, laugh at twitter.
I’m listening to some good music.

Yes. That grumpy.

My week didn’t start off that good. NYC was ridiculously hot and humid for about a week, and everyone was just miserable. I had Trombone Shorty tickets Monday night, with Soulive opening, promising to be a good show.
Soulive was great. Trombone Shorty was on fire. The crowd (as it did most of the times I’ve been to Central Park Summerstage) sucked.
It’s a personal thing, but my friends and I go to concerts to see the music, not to try and talk loudly over the music and pretend the venue is our living room.
Then it started to rain hard. So we left about twenty minutes into Trombone’s set.
Tuesday was a pain in the ass – email problems, computer problems, Big Red having issues with his computer stemming from the fact that he doesn’t know how to read what’s on the screen, other people having problems because obviously the instructions to do this and not that don’t apply to them because they’re special.
I kept thinking that the best solution would be to just throw their computer in the river, with them right behind it.
Wednesday was the same. New coworker thinks his job is 8 to 5. So any testing or maintenance or other work on weekends isn’t his problem.
I don’t mind doing the work because it has to be done, but it would be nice if there was someone to split the load with.

I was grumpy.
Then I got to Thursday.
I had a doctor’s appointment at 0930, and since I’d be out all morning, I figured I’d take the rest of the day as a mental health day.
My wife (The Most Wonderful Girl In The Universe asked if she should take the day off too.
Sure! I said, with one condition – it couldn’t be a chore day, and we had to go out and play.
She agreed (there’s a reason she’s TMWGITU!).

So we made a reservation to go stand up paddleboarding in lower Manhattan (Pier 40) in the early afternoon. Because it was late when my appointment ended, we drove in. On the way, it started raining. then it started raining harder.
We found a spot as the rain dwindled away and made it to the place (N.Y. Kayak).
25 minutes later, we were changed, on the dock, and ready to slide the boards into the water and shove off.
In we went. Kneeling as we paddled out, I felt the beginnings of a smile on my face.
10 minutes later, I stood up, took two strokes and with a shout of “GOING ON!!!” completely lost my balance and flopped backwards into the Hudson River off West Street.
I surfaced with a big grin on my face, no trace of grumpiness, and pleasantly untensed shoulders.
And my mood turned on a dime.

That’s fun right there!

The rest of the day was a blur of fun – two hours in the water, finishing with a fantastic foray into the river itself, with a current fast enough that it was all I could do to paddle and keep my place…a trip to Chelsea Market for one of the best burgers I’ve had in a while (it was a lamb burger, but still, delicious!) and a delicious bottle of ice cold American Ale (this wasn’t gluten free, but apparently that’s available these days too), followed by some incredible freshly made mini donuts and then a stroll along the Highline park, built on an old elevated freight line along 10th avenue.
My mood couldn’t be broken, not even when the guy from NY Kayak called and told me I’d left our bag of wet clothes behind. We laughed as we flew back down to get it.

Grumpy? Yeah, I can fix that…

Friday was a quiet day. Dealt with whatever came up (which wasn’t much), mostly sat at my desk and caught up on blogs. Then for the evening, we went out for a nice dinner and saw a great set by Paula Poundstone, along with a few bottles of the ever satisfying Rogue Dead Guy Ale, a beer that will always have a special place in my heart.

Now I’m sitting at my computer writing this, and in a few minutes, I’ll pick up my guitar and a beer (Blue Moon, I think) and spend a quiet evening with my girl.
I don’t know when the next time I’ll get to go out for an adventure, but I’ll start planning another mental health day as soon as I feel the grumps coming on.

84 responses to “On A Dime…”

Oh I love stand-up paddling!!! Happy to see your grumpiness wore off. We are all entitled to a few Eeyore moments. 🙂 Me, I love to turn up music and drive out in the country or hang out with my teens. I can’t stop smiling then.

I saw Trombone Shorty last year at the Hollywood Bowl. I have searched him out ever since…that man is on fire! best concert ever. There can be a lot of talking at the bowl, but not during the music. Sorry you had to leave

I think your problem is being too good and caring for this world. Like, the unability to say ‘screw this’ when it’s weekend but there’s still stuff to do.
Luckily you had that mental health day!
What mostly works for me is a dance class, or just some random explosive dancing, or music, or reading. I’m not sure actually… But beer will always do ;).

I rarely get grumpy, but when it does happen spending some time reading on astronomy, the universe, cosmology, usually helps in putting the insignificance of my worries in proper perspective. If that fails – tequila!

Being a frequent grump myself, I have a multitude of tools to shake it off and I think you and your commenters covered them quite well. Any form of exercise for me, music, writing and on occasion, cleaning (Yeah, I know, that’s just weird).

It sounds like you work very hard at your job – you deserved a Mental Health Day! Being in the water (something you love) and being with your girl (who we know is awesome) was a perfect combination for you! (even if it rained…) Good way to turn it back around, Guapo!

This sounds amazing! What a great day. Glad the week turned around for you. All you needed was some fun and a day with your girl. 🙂 OH – and you, sir, have some amazing taste in beer. When I make it up there for us all to meet up, we need to get some delicious ales.

Guap, that’s great you got to take that mental health day and that you got to spend it with your girl! And paddleboarding! How fun is that? You have a lot more fun than I do. Now I’m jealous, but mostly I’m happy you feel better.

When I get the grumps, I dress in brighter colors, take special care with hair & makeup so I look my best. (city plan) When I can I get near a large body of water, I just watch the water for as long as I can.

Had a similar week except for the work part, where it was exceptional. Possible promotion and the divesting of the one thing I disliked the most. Now wrapped up in converting to a better way. Having said that I am having post travel depression. Cured it though with a run to the Rockies now in place, maybe with a sail on Kootenay Lake. Did the music and the beer, with some wine and a doctor appointment as well. Also got back on the blog track. Similar but different eh!

Back in the early ’90s, I saw Morphine play at the Central Park free stage. Completely awesome. Don’t remember the crowd being obnoxious, although I did run into the singer from the Del Lords, who were kind of a thing of mine at the time.

So glad to hear your week turned around. Sounds like an awesome time paddle boarding, and yay!, you get some guitar time!!!

Never had a lamb burger? Is it extra lean or something?

I try to not let myself get too grumpy (it’s a trigger–part of that HALT thing for those in recovery: hungry, angry, lonely, tired), but inevitably I still have my pissy moods. Sleep is good, reading, playing with the dogs, Ben & Jerry’s are good too, but music and exercise are best. So I’ll usually crank up the tunes and go for a run or walk.

So glad you beat the case of the grumps! They can be deadly and often contagious. Sounds like a wonderful time with your wonderful “girl”. And to top the week off with Poundstone, no less! Mental Health Days are da bom! When I get grumpy I tell people I’m grumpy. I warn them. Then, the grumpiness usually passes after an hour or ten (or after a glass of wine or ten). 🙂

Ah yes…a face full of water (or body full) does change a mood! Sounds like a great way to tell the sucky-ness to take a hike…CALL IN WELL. Good job…can’t wait to meet you and The Most Wonderful Girl In The Universe!!

What’s a “grumpy day?”
Just kidding. Oh my, I am certainly kidding. I’ve found the quickest way to switch my mood around is to just give in to the grumpiness – turn on some Rage so loud it hurts my ears and curse the world for a good five minutes (or however long whichever song I put on happens to be), and then I’ll suddenly be feeling much better. Yep, a lot of the time it really is that simple.

Oh I can’t tell you how very much I enjoyed this! My dream is to go stand up paddleboarding. Oh how fun would that be!! But I had so much fun living your mental health day with you and TMWGITU that I feel relaxed and happy too!! 😀

Great post, a pleasure to read. I know what you mean– one’s mood really can turn on a dime. Wish I knew exactly how it worked. Seems to require a certain amount of luck and outside intervention. If it turns out there’s a simple switch you can just throw, do let me know!! : )